Written Answers

Thursday 2 November 2000

Scottish Executive

Agriculture

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the latest position is on agri-monetary compensation payments to the arable sector.

Ross Finnie: I am pleased to inform you that, in response to the current difficulties being faced by the arable sector, the UK Government have now decided to draw down further agri-monetary compensation, subject to EU Commission approval. The Scottish share is £4 million and this will be paid to the Arable Area Payment Scheme 2000 applicants. The compensation reflects the change in the EURO sterling exchange rate in 1999 compared with 2000.

Air Services

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what consultation was undertaken prior to the award of the contract to operate the Glasgow–Tiree and Glasgow–Campbeltown air services and why Tiree Community Council does not appear to have been consulted.

Sarah Boyack: Argyll and Bute Council and Argyll and the Islands Enterprise were consulted prior to the award of the contract for the provision of the air service between Glasgow and Campbeltown/Tiree. A meeting and further discussions were also held with council representatives. Individuals and organisations, including Tiree Community Council, provided comments on the performance of the air service and these were noted by the Scottish Executive. Article 4 of EC Regulation 2408/92 on access for Community air carriers to intra-community air routes sets down no specific requirements regarding consultation procedures with local organisations about Public Service Obligations for air services.

Anti-Social Neighbours

Bristow Muldoon (Livingston) (Lab): To ask the First Minister what steps have been taken to help people suffering from anti-social neighbours.

Henry McLeish: We have recently announced a £250,000 package of measures designed to tackle the problem of nuisance neighbours, including the creation of a Sociable Neighbourhood National Co-ordinator, who will promote good practice across Scotland, and work with councils and others to develop successful strategies. We have also proposed a number of measures for the forthcoming Housing Bill to give additional powers to local authorities and registered social landlords to help tackle this problem.

Bridges

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the new bridge at Kincardine-on-Forth to be completed and how the building of the bridge will be funded.

Sarah Boyack: I refer to my answer to question S1W-10375. Once construction has started the new bridge will take between two and three years to construct.

  A decision has not yet been taken on how the bridge will be funded.

Education

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm that it has no plans to publish league tables of primary school test results.

Mr Jack McConnell: The Executive has no plans to do so.

European Funding

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive why a new less favoured area payment scheme has not yet been agreed with the European Union when agreement has been reached on schemes for England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive by what date agreement must be reached with the European Union on a new less favoured area payment scheme in order for the first payments under the scheme to be made in March 2001.

Ross Finnie: Scotland’s Rural Development Plan was agreed unanimously by the STAR Committee last Wednesday. This followed difficult but constructive discussions between my officials and the European Commission. I was determined to ensure that the plan as a whole, and the LFA Scheme in particular, properly reflected Scottish circumstances. I am pleased, therefore, that this objective has been achieved and on a timescale which will enable LFA payments to be made as usual next spring.

Fisheries

Euan Robson (Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it last met the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation and what issues were discussed.

Rhona Brankin: I met with representatives of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation in Aberdeen on 30 October. The main issue discussed was the conservation of fish stocks and, in particular, the experience to date with the use of square mesh panels.

Flood Prevention

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Executive will, as a matter of priority, conduct relevant research and put in place contingency arrangements to deal with predicted increased flooding in Scotland.

Henry McLeish: The Scottish Executive has already commissioned research studies to consider the impact of climate change on the frequency of flooding, design standards to protect against flooding and, more generally, adaptation measures required to address the threat of climate change.

  The outcome of these studies will be disseminated widely, including to local authorities who have responsibility for dealing with flooding in their area. This will enable councils to take account of climate change in the development of flood prevention measures.

Food Safety

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in adopting the recommendations of the report of the Meat Inspection Charges Task Force.

Susan Deacon: The Food Standards Agency Meat Inspection Charges Task Force presented its final report on 26 June 2000. It recommends that inspection charges for all plants should be no greater than the EU standard charge, irrespective of the actual costs of veterinary inspection in any particular plant. The Scottish Executive is currently considering the recommendations of the task force and we will announce our decisions as quickly as possible.

  I have also been advised by the Food Standards Agency that a number of measures have already been put in place to assist small to medium-sized abattoirs. These include the freezing of hourly rates for Meat Hygiene Service inspections in 1999-2000 at 1998-99 levels and restricting the increase in 2000-01 to 2.2%, in line with the rate of inflation.

Food Safety

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the cost to abattoirs of meeting the requirements of EU Directive 64/433 on veterinary supervision and of implementing the recommendations of the report of the Meat Inspection Charges Task Force.

Susan Deacon: The Food Standards Agency has advised me that the cost of implementing the recommendations of the report of the Meat Inspection Charges Task Force, assuming 100% OVS supervision in 2000-01, is estimated to be £1.75 million for Scotland out of a GB total of some £19 million.

  An analysis of this is as follows:

  


Red Meat Slaughterhouses 


1.25 million 




Poultry Slaughterhouses 


0.2 million 




Cutting Plants 


0.3 million 




All Plants 


1.75 million

Food Safety

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Food Standards Agency and the Meat Hygiene Service monitors the cost to abattoirs of veterinary inspections and, if so, whether it will make available figures for each of the last six years.

Susan Deacon: I have been advised by the Food Standards Agency that the annual cost to abattoirs of veterinary inspections is monitored. Historically this has been undertaken at a Great Britain level and the agency has provided an estimate of the cost to the industry in Scotland since the MHS was established on 1 April 1995. The data for each financial year is as follows:

  


Year 


Scottish estimate
(£ million) 




1995-96 


1.5 




1996-97 


1.1 




1997-98 


1.2 




1998-99 


2.3 




1999-2000 


2.3

General Practitioners

George Lyon (Argyll and Bute) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to protect and extend GP services in remote and rural areas.

Susan Deacon: In general, GPs serving rural communities receive the same fees and allowances as their urban counterparts. They can also receive support through additional payments and schemes that have been introduced over the years in recognition of the particular circumstances of practice in rural areas. These include schemes to underwrite the income of practices in the most remote areas; to compensate rural GPs for extra travel costs due to the scattered nature of their practice population, and to support eligible single-handed GPs through the employment of qualified associates.

  In addition, the recently established Remote and Rural Resource Centre, based in Inverness, will address problems common to rural health services in all parts of Scotland.

Health

Mrs Mary Mulligan (Linlithgow) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the provision of specialist nurses and other services for people affected by Parkinson’s disease and their carers.

Susan Deacon: It is for local NHS Trusts to determine the number of specialist nurses required to meet the locally identified clinical needs of their patients, and to recruit the appropriately qualified nurses.

  Information on the current number of such specialist nurses is not held centrally.

Health

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost, in real terms, was to the NHSiS of prescription medicines in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Susan Deacon: The information is set out in the table below. The figures reflect the total gross ingredient cost in real terms of all prescription items dispensed in the community in Scotland.

  Gross Ingredient Cost of Prescriptions Dispensed in Scotland 1995-96 to 1999-2000

  


Financial Year 


Gross Ingredient Cost (£) in Real Terms1




1995-96 


454,488,477 




1996-97 


482,614,848 




1997-98 


513,116,641 




1998-99 


527,874,654 




1999-2000 


587,394,186 




  Notes:

  1. The general index of retail prices has been used to deflate the average costs into real terms using 1995-96 as a baseline.

Justice

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken towards the creation of a community legal service.

Iain Gray: The Minister for Justice announced on 10 October that a working group would be set up to oversee the creation of a Community Legal Service. My officials have had preliminary discussions with interested bodies such as the Citizens Advice Scotland, CoSLA and the Law Society of Scotland and I hope to issue invitations soon to certain bodies to join the working group.

Local Government

Andrew Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to respond to calls from people in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth for there to be a new local authority separate from North Lanarkshire Council.

Peter Peacock: The current local authority boundaries were established in 1996. Local authorities need a period of stability to address the modernisation agenda and to allow them to concentrate on the efficient and effective delivery of services.

NHS Funding

Mr Duncan Hamilton (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the increase in real terms in health spending compared with spending in 1998-99, will be in (a) 1999-2000, (b) 2000-01 and (c) 2001-02 and what the average increase per year over this three-year period is, specifying in each case the increase in both percentage and monetary terms.

Susan Deacon: The information is:

  





Total Budget
(billion) 


Cash increase
(million) 


Percentage change 




1998-99 


£4.61

 
 



1999-2000 


£4.92


£351 


7.5 




2000-01 


£5.43


£481 


9.7 




2001-02 


£5.83


£407 


7.5 




  Notes:

  1. Actual expenditure.

  2. Original planned expenditure.

  3. Planned expenditure.

NHS Waiting Times

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether Health Trusts are applying a sufficient proportion of their budget to the reduction of waiting times.

Susan Deacon: Sustainable reductions in waiting throughout the NHS require both investment and reform. Record levels of resources – £481 million more than last year – are being provided to the Health Service in Scotland.

  A substantial proportion of the additional resource is being used to reduce waiting times at a local level. New ways of waiting are also being developed, for example, by establishing more one-stop clinics and re-designing services from the patient’s perspective.

Oil Industry

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it last had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer or the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry about the Scottish oil industry and what specific issues were discussed.

Ms Wendy Alexander: Discussions with UK Ministers and Departments take place on a continuous basis across a wide range of issues, including the oil industry. One major forum for discussion of issues affecting the offshore oil and gas industry is Pilot, a Government/Oil Industry Task Force of which I am Vice-Chair. The most recent meeting of Pilot was on 4 October.

Parliamentary Questions

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-6319 by Mr Tom McCabe on 9 May 2000, whether its investigation has established the reason for the delay in answering question S1W-3953 yet; if so, what this reason is, and when it now expects to answer question S1W-3953.

Mr Tom McCabe: PQ S1W-3953 was answered on 8 September.

Police

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made by the review group set up to consider the impact of Part V of the Police Act 1997 in relation to payment for police vetting checks on adult volunteers.

Mr Jim Wallace: The review group set up last year under Jackie Baillie’s chairmanship has made good progress. It is hoped that the group will report its conclusions by the end of the calendar year.

Rail Services

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Railtrack and rail operating companies regarding the withdrawal of all direct rail services from Aberdeen to London.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive has been in daily contact with Railtrack and the train operating companies concerning the operation of all passenger services in Scotland which are affected by the imposition of temporary speed restrictions across the GB railway network.

Rail Services

Alasdair Morgan (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Railtrack regarding rail services in south-west Scotland.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with Railtrack on a wide range of operational matters.

Rail Services

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the rail operating companies and what advice and guidance it has given to the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority since the railway incident at Hatfield.

Sarah Boyack: Railway safety is a reserved matter. On 30 October I met Railtrack and the train companies operating in Scotland to discuss the impact on Scottish rail services of safety measures applied after the Hatfield accident.

Roads

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to upgrade the A8000 south of the Forth Road Bridge, when such work would commence and how any such work would be financed.

Sarah Boyack: I refer Bruce Crawford to the answer I gave to question S1O-1876.

Slate Industry

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for promotion and encouragement of a Scottish slate industry.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Executive recognises the role of indigenous Scottish slate in preserving the characteristics of historic Scottish buildings. In early November Historic Scotland is co-hosting the Traditional Scottish Roofing Conference and launching two commissioned research studies on the use and potential of Scottish slate. Historic Scotland also funds the Scottish Stone Liaison Group, which brings together players interested in the revitalisation of the Scottish slate and stone industries.

Slate Industry

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to support the slate industry.

Ms Wendy Alexander: I refer the member to the answer given to Lord James Douglas-Hamilton’s question S1O-2345 on 2 November.

Voluntary Sector

Janis Hughes (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it expects communities to benefit from the recently announced additional funding for the Council for Voluntary Services network.

Jackie Baillie: The doubling of funding for Councils of Voluntary Service will enable the Scottish Executive to support the network right across Scotland for the first time. The additional funding will enable local Councils for Voluntary Service to :

  increase their support for voluntary organisations in their local area;

  provide comprehensive advice to the voluntary sector on funding;

  work with Local Volunteer Development Agencies and others in the delivery of the Active Communities Initiative;

  participate in the community planning process;

  contribute to the social justice agenda; and

  develop support for social economy activities.

  There are clear community benefits to be gained by increasing the capacity of the voluntary sector infrastructure in this way.

Waste Management

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to publish its response to the Strategic Review of Organic Waste Spread on Land produced by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in 1998.

Mr Sam Galbraith: I am aware of public concern about the spreading of organic waste on land. That is why the Scottish Environment Protection Agency was asked to prepare a Strategic Review of these practices. The Executive is currently considering its response to the public consultation on SEPA’s recommendations. I hope to make an announcement on this later this year. The results of the consultation are also informing a wider review of the exemptions in the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994.

Young People

Elaine Thomson (Aberdeen North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in supporting young people living in communities affected by socially exclusive issues such as drug misuse.

Jackie Baillie: Through our social justice policy and initiatives such as Social Inclusion Partnerships, New Community Schools, the New Futures Fund and the Rough Sleepers’ Initiative, we are substantially improving opportunities for excluded young people in disadvantaged communities.

  And we have just recently announced a new £100 million drugs package which includes an additional £21 million for education, support and alternative activities for young people and £5 million for community-based drugs projects in SIPs.